Wednesday, May 26, 2010

May 17th found us in Colorado Springs attending Kate's college graduation. Hard to believe that the last four years have flown by so quickly. Their commencement speaker was Wade Davis, a reknowned National Geographic Society author and explorer. Also, our good friends, Bill, Maggie, Alice, and Aileen, were able to be there on this very special day. Now our "little girl" is off on new adventures including a two-week backpack in Alaska's Gates of the Arctic National Park.

As you can see, the weather was perfect for an outdoor ceremony and photography. The day before and day after were cloudy, cold, and rainy. My favorite "walk-around lens," Nikon's 18-200mm zoom, did a fine job capturing distant speakers, intimate moments, and action.

It's been awhile since I have had a chance to write a blog. I was hoping to blog more from the National Geographic Explorer while sailing around the western Mediterranean and then up the west coast Great Britain. However, the internet connection on the ship was quite slow; therefore, rather expensive to upload pictures. Now that I am back in Flagstaff, I'll try to post more often.

Above are a few images from the Shetland Islands. The archaeological site is a broch called Mousa and dates from the Iron Age, about 2,000 years ago. The exact function of these mysterious structures is not known; although, they do appear defensive in nature. This 13 meter high broch is the best preserved of the 570 or so found around Scotland, mostly in the Hebrides, Orkneys, and Shetlands.

Brochs remind me of the Anasazi towers found in southeast Utah, which archaeologists first presumed were for defense, but now believe them to be celestial observatories. Something to ponder.